Cadance: The Shining Armor Chaser
by Captain-Brony
Summary: Shining Armor and Princess Cadance love each other very much, this much is obvious to everypony, but what nopony knows is Shining Armor wasn't always on board with the idea of dating a princess. In fact, he was dead set against it because he thought it would end up ruining both of their reputations.
1. Chapter 1

Shining Armor walked down the corridor giving a nod to some of his fellow guards. He couldn't help but grin as he walked to his office, not only had he gotten to live his dream of becoming a guard but he even got promoted to Captain. The fact that his protection spell was second to none certainly didn't hurt his chances.

As he turned the corner, he passed some girls who giggled as he walked by. Girls were always going to giggle about him, it was a fact of life he knew and accepted. The thought of acquiring a very special somepony would on occasion cross his mind, but then he would just tell himself that the Captain of the Guard couldn't afford a love life. He had a duty to think of, a responsibility to uphold, he didn't have time for cuddles and kisses. Besides, even if he did the mare would become a target for Canterlot's enemies, a way to get to him by hurting her.

However, what he failed to notice was that the only mare of the group who wasn't giggling was none other than Princess Mi Amore Cadenza...or as she was known to her friends, Cadance... Cadi to those especially close to her. She couldn't seem to stop herself from staring "Is that...Shining Armor?"

"You know Shining Armor?" one of her friends asked.

"Well, yes, from a long time ago. I used to foal sit for his little sister; but the last time I saw him he was leaving for royal guard training."

"Oh! So you knew him before he was a guard! So what was he like back then?" asked her other friend.

"Well he was a lot skinnier back then, I can tell you that! But why is his armor so different from the others?"

"Didn't you hear? He got promoted to Captain recently."

"Really?" Cadance couldnt' suppress her delight. She knew that becoming a royal guard for Canterlot was always a dream for Shining Armor, so to not only realize said dream but to get promoted from it as well? Things were definitely looking more than a little up for the unicorn.

As Shining Armor finally approached the door to his office he saw Twilight standing there waiting for him. "Twiley!" he called out. It was always joy to see his little sister, they hardly ever got to see each other after she moved to Ponyville. He ran over and ruffled her hair "How ya doin, Kiddo?"

Twilight laughed before pushing Shining's hoof away from her head. "I'm fine, BBBFF. I'm actually here because there's a book here about rare animals that I don't have back in the Ponyville library. My friend Fluttershy really wants to read it so I'm doing her a favor and checking it out so she can borrow it."

"Well that's awfully nice of you." Shining Armor couldn't help but be proud of his little sister. Going to Ponyville was the best thing that ever happened to her, before she was way too shy and just on the border of being anti-social. And now here she was going to great lengths just to get a book for a friend.

"But then I heard about your big promotion and just had to come congratulate you!" she threw her arms around him wrapping him in a hug which he readily returned.

"I'd love to spend more time with you Twiley, but I got some paper work I really need to get a head start on or else otherwise it will never get done."

They broke the hug off and Shining Armor was expecting his sister to get upset with probably saying that time together was more important than dumb old paper work, but instead she nodded in understanding.

"That's okay, I need to get back to Ponyville anyways. Don't forget to write okay?"

"Sure thing, Kiddo!" He ruffled her hair one last time before entering his office. His office had a strict military feel to it, a pen in it's holster on the desk, a suit of armor on the opposing walls for decoration, and a plush office chair behind the desk. However, what Shining Armor really admired in his office was the gold name plate on his desk. The light seemed to reflect of it as if it were some holy relic, reading the words 'Captain Shining Armor'.

Inside he sat in his office chair and immediately started on the first sheet of his paper work. Not even half way in to it and received a knock on his door.

"It's open." he called.

The door opened a crack and Princess Cadance poked her head through. "Shiny?"

"Cadi?"

It had been years since the two had seen each other and yet the old nicknames Twilight had given them still seemed to stuck. There was always a certain amount of...'electricity' between them but they had never really acted upon them.

"Wow." she said coming all the way in. "The royal guard training has made you...bigger."

He blushed at the fact that she had noticed his increased muscle mass. Royal guard training was at the very least to say, very rough; he had no doubt in his mind he was nowhere near the string bean he was before he enlisted. "Yes...well, ahem, thank you."

"You're very welcome. It has been a long time since we've seen each other," she leaned forward on his desk, her hooves resting her head as she fluttered her eyes at him. "We should take some time and catch up with each other."

Shining Armor leaned back in his chair, swallowing the large lump in his throat didn't seem to dwell his blushing. "R-Right..." he tried to think of more to say but with Cadance right there in front of him his mind was becoming a complete blank.

"So I was thinking, maybe the two of us could go out on a date sometime."

Shining Armor suddenly straightened up, the blush gone from his face and replaced with that of a serious expression.

"Absolutely not."

"WHAT?!" Cadance's shout literally blew the top off the building.

Shining Armor flinched at the volume of her voice. She still seemed upset but her breathing was steadying out. "Shining Armor, you and I both know that there is something..." she struggled for a moment, trying to find the right word. "SPECIAL...between us!"

"I..."

"There's not another mare is there?!" she snapped. Cadance seemed almost...frightening, when she considered the possibility that she might have a love rival. "Because if there is, I promise you that there is no possible way she could make you as happy as I could!"

Shining Armor sighed but outside of that hadn't moved an inch at the Princess's outburst. "There's no other mare." he stated calmly.

"Then what is the problem?!"

"I'm sorry your Majesty, but I'm the Captain of the Royal Guard and you're a legitimate princess. It is my duty to protect Canterlot, and all who reside in it, which just so happens to include the Royal Family. Such a relationship would be viewed as inappropriate."

"That's 'Cadance' to you!" she pointed her hoof almost dangerously at him. "And I don't care about what others think of me and I know you don't either! I know you like me back Shining Armor! I'm the Princess of Love for crying out loud, but what I want to know is what could you possibly care about enough to think we shouldn't be together?!"

"What I care about..." he took a moment to remember Cadance's demand to be called by her name. "'Princess' Cadance, is both mine and YOUR reputation! You are a princess, you can not afford to be seen fraternizing with the Captain of the Guards, especially if there are important dignitaries about! This is the world we live in, it may not be as pretty we'd like it to be but we still have to live in it just the same. This is how it has to be, not because the feelings are un-reciprocated but because this is how the world works."

"But..." she said weakly.

"I'm sorry your Highness," he did seem sincerely sorry. "but I've made my mind up on this."

This couldn't be happening! Cadance knew deep down in her heart that she and Shining Armor were meant to live happily ever after together, but he was ready turn his back on both of their feelings just so neither of them would look bad! Cadance bit her lip as her mind scrambled to find anything for a source of hope. She found it. "But what if...what if I could change your mind?"

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow at her. "I beg your pardon?"

"I know you like me back Shining Armor, and what's more is..." she leaned forward with a cocky smirk. "I can prove it!"

Shining Armor's blush seemed to return as he looked her up and down. "And h-h-how exactly would you go about 'proving' that?" Cadance choked back a giggle as Shining Armor's voice cracked on the word 'proving'.

"The Grand Galloping Gala is in three weeks, if I can get you to admit that you like me back then you have to become my very special somepony so we can one day live happily ever after in a crystal palace!" she gushed.

"Crystal palace?" He arched an eyebrow at her. She had obviously given this more thought that Shining Armor had given her credit for. "Whatever. And what if you lose?"

"I'll give in! I will accept that this world just can't accept the love between a Captain of the Guards and the Princess he's supposed to guard. I'll settle for loving you from afar!"

Shining Armor took a moment to weigh the pros with the cons. On one hoof this was likely to be a huge distraction to him, and three weeks was an awfully long time. On the other hoof this was probably the best way for her to move on without the shedding of tears, this way they could at least try to end it as friends. "...deal!"

He held out his hoof and she shook it. "You don't stand a chance, Shining Armor."

"We'll see about that."

"That's a very nice strong arm you have there."

Shining Armor yanked his arm back causing the princess to giggle at his actions.

Regaining his composure, Shining Armor offered her a smirk of his own. "Either way, in three weeks time this will all be over."

She returned the smirk. "Then our real life can begin."

"Either you will respect my wishes..."

"Or you will accept my kisses!"

Shining Armor blushed furiously "Stop that!"

"NO!"


	2. Chapter 2

Shining Armor was out on patrol, he and the other guards had a lot of preparations to make if they wanted everything ready for the Grand Galloping Gala. Buildings need to be inspected but that was only for the first week, best to get the mundane things out of way and check to see if everything was up to code.

He was currently crossing the bridge from one tower to the other when saw none other than Princess Cadance waiting for him. He was wondering when she was going to try something, he just wasn't expecting it to be the day after they made the bet. "Hello Shining Armor." she batted her eyelashes at him.

"Princess." he nodded at her.

There was a silent pause between them and Shining Armor didn't trust it one bit. "Is this where you're planning on trying your first 'attempt' against me?"

"Oh not at all." she feigned innocence. "I'm just here to have a polite conversation with you, that's all."

"Sure you are." his voice dripped with sarcasm. "Alright, fire away."

"Nice weather lately huh?"

"Yeah, the pegasus ponies have been giving us a lot of sunny weather lately. Not a cloud in the sky."

He smiled. Maybe Cadance did really just want to have a pleasant conversation; to show that they could still be adults despite the situation...

"Sooo, got any weekend plans?"

Or maybe not.

"As a matter of fact yes. I checked out one of my favorite books from back when I was in training. I'm going to sit down and enjoy it for all my worth."

"Well my weekend is wide open, maybe I can swing by and you can tell me all about it."

So that was her plan? Get some alone time and turn it in to a date, or more specifically when he was off duty. Taking an ordinary situation and turning it in to something she wanted it be, Shining Armor wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to feel about that. She must have figured all she really needed to do was set up a time for it.

"Well Cadance, I see through your plan like cellophane. Unfortunately for you, I know exactly how to deal with it." Shining Armor thought to himself.

"I'm pretty sure the palace library has copy of it, you can just go check yourself one out." he said with a smirk.

Cadance's eyes widened, he was on to her; but she wasn't ready to give up on her first plan just yet.

"It would also be nice to get out of the palace and hit a restaurant for a change, but all my gal pals are out of town."

"No they're not! They're right over there!" Shining Armor pointed past Cadance in to the castle behind her where two of her friends were waving at her, mouthing the words 'You got this stallion'.

Shining Armor wasn't sure what it was Cadance mouthed back to them but whatever it was must not have bee pleasant because the other two mares ran off. Cadance turned back to Shining Armor offering him her best smile.

"They're leaving today."

"I'm sure. Anyways, I prefer to cook for myself."

Cadance brushed some hair out of her face. "Oh really? I'd love a private cooking lesson from Chef Shining Armor sometime."

"That won't be necessary. There are tons of cook books at the library."

Cadance gave him an angry pout for a moment but put it away and brought back her smile. "You bring up the library a lot, you know that?"

"Twilight has dragged me there on more than one occasion." he admitted.

Cadance giggled honestly. "That sounds like something she would do." Shining Armor laughed with her. "It really does."

She gave him a coy smile. "But you know, maybe libraries aren't so bad." she started to move closer to him much to his surprise. "Nice and quiet..." She had him walking backwards now as she attempted to get closer. "And cozy."

"Cozy?! I...what...you..." his mind scrambled to make sense of the situation, but with Cadance pressing forward continuously...he was grasping at straws.

Despite this Cadance giggled at his stuttering. "You're cute when you're flustered, ya know that?"

"I-I-I-I..." his ramblings was cut short when he felt himself bump in to something. He turned around to see one of his guard ponies, Shining Armor's blush almost instantly disappeared as he returned the salute given to him.

"Sir, all buildings are up to co...oh! Forgive me sir, I wasn't aware you were with the Princess."

"Yes he was!" Cadance seethed at the guard.

"Not to worry private, me and the Princess have concluded our business."

Shining Armor bit back a laugh as Cadance's angry pout returned.

"Well Sir, I just wanted to report we have finished the inspection of the buildings, everything is up to code."

A light went on in Shining Armor head, this was perfect.

"What about the barracks? Did you remember to check those?"

"The barracks, sir?"

"Yes! Did you check the barracks, soldier?"

"Sir, the barracks aren't part of the Grand Galloping Gala."

Cadance narrowed her eyes at Shining Armor. "I see what you're doing!"

He pretended not to hear her. "So what?! The barracks is where we sleep, soldier! It's where we live! We can't risk it not being up to code!"

"Well okay then sir, I'll just grab a couple of the other guards and..."

"No need for that, I'll go with you!"

"Well if you're sure, sir."

Shining Armor turned back to Cadance with a smirk all his own. "So sorry your 'Majesty', but I'm afraid I have to leave you now. Duty calls."

As he walked off with the guard, Cadance gritted her teeth in a very unladylike way. "You can't run forever, Shining Armor! YOU CAN'T RUN FROM LOVE!"

"Sir, what is she talking about?"

"Oh don't mind her. She's just a little stressed from her royal duties."

"Sir, call me crazy...but I think she might like you."

"Are you looking for a demerit?"

* * *

Down in the barracks, everything seemed to be up to code...except for the beds, they were unacceptably messy for the royal guards. Normally Shining Armor would chew out the owner's of these beds but after his little run in with Cadance he felt it was easier to just fix them with the guard he brought in.

"Sir, I don't understand." The guard started as they placed the sheet on the bed. "You obviously like her back."

"And I'm not arguing that," Shining Armor said as he tucked the bed. "but we both have reputations to think of."

They moved on to the last bed and the guard started working with the sheets again. "But you do like her, right?"

Shining Armor once again tucked the sheets in. "Let's just say," he bounced a bit off the bed and caught it in mid air with a smile. "I have a thing for Pink Alicorns."

"Then why don't you just, I don't know, date her!"

"As I said before, we both have reputations to think of. The Captain of Guards can't be fraternizing with one of the higher ups who can sign his pay check."

* * *

Meanwhile, Cadance and her two friends were busy getting her ready for her next 'attack'. They were a green unicorn and a white pegasus.

"I can't believe you two were right behind me when I was flirting with Shining Armor!"

"Sorry Cadance, we just wanted to show you our support."

"By being right behind me where I couldn't see you?"

The green unicorn rubbed her neck in embarrassment. "Maybe we didn't think that part through."

"Oh never mind, I forgive you. But you girls have to help me pick out a dress next time."

"Don't forget the make up!" the green one chimed holding Cadance's beauty kit.

The red pegasus opened her closet and started to flip through the dresses. "I don't get it, why don't you just use your special love magic on him?"

It was true, Cadance's cutie mark was in love, her magic of using the feelings ponies already felt for one another and bringing them to the surface was truly unique.

Cadance applied some eye liner to herself. "Because then it'd be a hollow victory. Besides," she put on some lipstick. "I know he likes me back. I can see it in his eyes."

"You know what you should do." Her horned friend helped her apply some blush. "You should give him a flying tackle hug!"

"A what?"

"Oh it has just been the cutest trend! When there's somepony you're in love with you leap towards throwing your arms around them bringing bowling him over with the power of your love until you're both one big laughing love mess on the ground."

Cadance let this new information settle in to her brain, would a 'flying tackle hug' be an asset to her in this situation?

"...That does sound pretty cute!"

"And I found just the dress for it!" The red pegasus revealed a pink and blue miniskirt.

Cadance blushed. "The miniskirt?"

"Hey! I think we've established the standard flirtations aren't going to work here! It's time for the big guns!"

* * *

Shining Armor and the guard from earlier walked in to the main hall. Everything seemed quiet...a little too quiet.

"Be on guard!" Shining Armor ordered. "We're not alone!"

"What?!"

"Somepony is watching us!" It was true, thanks to his royal guard training he 'feel' this mysterious pony watching them, waiting. He couldn't tell where though, this pony had hidden themselves well. The shadows were probably the best place for a pony to hide but they were a little cliche, an intruder now a days would try for something a little more original. This way their attack would be sure to remembered by all involved.

"If you're going to make a move..." Shining Armor announced. "Then I suggest you make it now while you have the chance!"

The attacker came out of nowhere, the guard didn't have a chance to blink as it headed straight for Shining Armor. His poor Captain didn't even have the chance to put up his shield spell as the attacker collided with him in the air. The guard couldn't help but flinch at the sounds of flesh colliding with flesh, but when he opened his eyes the image before him would forever be burned in to his memory.

Shining Armor and Cadance laid in a painful heap on the floor.

"Owww!" moaned Shining Armor.

"Oww." Cadance echoed.

"Why would you do that?!" Shining Armor whined.

"I was told flying tackle hugs were romantic."

"WHO would find THAT romantic?! That was just painful!"

"I think I even hurt my wing a little bit."

"MEDIC!"


	3. Chapter 3

Shining Armor and Cadance were in the medic wing of the palace, getting patched up by Doctor Amora. She was a blue unicorn with a roll of hospital tape for a cutie mark. It was her standard procedure to treat all patients in beds since that was how she learned the trade. Shining Armor and Cadance didn't seem to mind, if anything a soft place to lay down seemed to help with their sores and aches. Doctor Amora always had some ointment around just for these kind of 'accidents'. Thankfully she only had minor injuries to worry about with both of them, but as who they received them was what really irked her.

"I swear, this trend has become my worst enemy! These 'flying tackle hugs' have given me more patients than I care to count! Honestly you two were lucky to get off with just minor injuries."

She gave Shining Armor a bandaid on his nose before turning her attention to Cadance.

"All week long I've been getting couples who've injured themselves with these 'flying tackle hugs'." She started to delicately wrap Cadance's wing. "Just about everything from black eyes to broken bones, all because lovers have decided to hurl themselves at each other! It's ridiculous!"

When she finished wrapping Cadance's wing she let out a sigh of relief. "Your wing should be fine just so long as you stay off of it for at least a couple of days. Shining Amor, your injuries aren't anything a big rough stallion like yourself can't walk off, just don't get in to any fights."

"Ma'am!" a guard poked his head in to the room, a look of urgency on his face. "We have another 'incident' with the trend. A couple seems to be mangled together in some way."

The doctor gave a heavy sigh. "Show them in."

"We can't Ma'am. We were uh told not to move them."

She slapped her forehead before slowing dragging her hoof down her face. "I hate this trend." She gave another sigh before picking up her medical kit. "Alright, I'm on my way. I'll trust you two to show yourselves out."

As she left the two merely sat quietly as they stared at the sheets on their bed. There was a certain embarrassment in the air with how they got their injuries, clearly neither of them wanted to bring it up because the silence between them was deafening. Shining Armor couldn't take it anymore, he had to break it.

"So..." Cadance looked up giving Shining Armor her full attention. "Let's agree that no matter what future attempts there will be, that they don't involve physical injury."

Cadance gave a soft laugh. "Sounds like a deal to me." She gave a sad smile. "This will be something to tell our children someday."

A furious blush raced across his face. "Children?!"

"Someday, when we're ready."

Sighing heavily Shining Armor shook his head. "Why is this so important to you anyways? I mean out of all the stallions in Equestria, why me? Why not some foreign dignitary? Or even a prince for crying out loud?"

"They're not you. They don't know what's really important, not like you do."

"And that's why you love me?"

Cadance looked at him with a sense of urgency. "Oh no! No! No! No! It's much more than that! My feelings for you have been there for a long time."

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow at her. "How long of a 'long time'?" He had to know.

It was Cadance's turn to blush now. "Since I foal sat for Twiley."

Shining Armor felt his jaw drop. He got up out of the bed and walked over to Cadance sitting on the foot of her bed. "That's an awful long time, Cadance."

"I know, but only recently did they..." her blush deepened as she searched for the right word. "'Blossom'."

Shining Armor sighed. "Listen, Cadance...maybe if things were different, like if we both were just a couple of average ordinary unicorns then..."

"Don't say that you don't love me back!" Cadance said heatedly.

"What makes you so certain about that anyways?!"

"I'm the Princess of LOVE, Shiny! I know you love me back..." she stared up at his face, her eyes shimmering. "Because I can feel it."

"W-What?!" For the second time that day Cadance had made him feel hot and flustered.

"I feel the love you have me, Shining Armor. I feel it inside of your heart, and it overwhelms me. I also feel the love you have for your family too, but the love you have for me is different. It's wonderful and warm..." a dreamy smile formed on her face. "And bigger than I ever thought possible."

Shining Armor was now as red as a tomato and completely speechless to boot. He thought for sure Cadance would be laughing at him again over this but instead she maintained her train of thought.

"So you can go ahead and tell me that there is nothing there between us all you want..." her face turned serious. "But I will know that, that is a LIE!"

"...I..." Shining Armor searched aimlessly for something, ANYTHING to say in response to this new information. Then, like a river, the words just came flooding out of his mouth. "Whether I love you or not is irrelevant."

"...What do you mean it's 'irrelevant'?! It's LOVE! It's completely relevant!" Cadance snapped.

"We each have our own path to follow, Cadance." He got up off of her bed and stared down at her with a very serious expression. "Mine is protecting the citizens of Canterlot, and yours is ruling over them. And love or not, those paths don't intersect."

Cadance started to visibly shake and Shining Armor started to feel guilty. _"Poor thing, she didn't ask to have these feelings."_ He was about to apologize when...

"BUCK THAT!" Cadance snapped with a roar. Shining Armor jumped back at Cadance's sudden outburst, she had jumped off the bed with a deadly serious stare fixated on Shining Armor. "Paths smaths! You can talk about paths all you want..." Shining Armor found himself backing away from Princess Cadance as she made strides towards. "But I know in my heart of hearts that WE are MEANT to be TOGETHER!"

Shining Armor couldn't back up anymore, he had found the window to the wall. Just in time too, her expression finally softened, she placed a hoof on his cheek tenderly "And I know you feel it too."

Then Cadance did the most surprising thing yet. She kissed him.

"MMMMMMM! MMM!" was the closest thing Shining Armor could do to protesting, they were the only sounds that his mouth could make.

However, soon enough Shining Armor discovered, much to his surprise that he was starting to kiss her back. Which to Shining Armor simply didn't add up, his mind knew exactly why they couldn't be together and yet his body was working against it's wishes.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Shining Armor forced the kiss to break off. A whirlwind of emotions were written on Cadance's face, disappointment-that the kiss had ended, happiness- she obviously enjoyed that kiss, but most surprising of all was shock.

"You kissed back!" her tone sounded as if she needed to say it out loud just so she could believe it herself. "You kissed back!" there was joy in her voice this time, and Shining Armor knew that could only mean trouble for him.

"Now Cadance, don't go thinking this proves anything!"

"Oh but it does prove something!" She twirled away in joy. "It proves you aren't the stick in the mud the other guards keep saying you are."

"They said WHAT about me?!" Shining Armor fumed.

"This is perfect!" Cadance beamed reminding Shining Armor of the problem at hand. "I was afraid I wasn't making any progress at all with you."

"Okay, 1) You've only made one real attempt and that was this morning! 2) I STILL haven't admitted to anything!"

If Cadance heard him, she obviously didn't show it. "Now all I have to do is just keep the love on and you'll be honest with your feelings..."

"Hey! Are you listening to me?!"

"I'll win the bet!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it! But seriously, not one word is getting through right now is it?"

"And then we can start dating..."

"I could probably just say anything and you won't even notice will you? Like sunki-funkey-monkey, Pudding Face."

"And then we can announce our love to all of Canterlot!"

"That's what I thought. I'm just going to leave before you decide to capitalize on this moment."

Shining Armor quietly opened the window behind and started to stick his leg through it. Cadance didn't even notice as she was staring dreamily in to the distance.

"Oh and just think; we'll go on romantic picnics together and hold hooves." Cadance gushed.

As Cadance continued to fantasize Shining Armor quietly snuck out the window.

"HEY!"

Cadance was brought out of her fantasy as the good doctor was currently burning a glare at her.

"If the stallion can figure out it's time to go then why can't you?!"

Cadance looked around the room but Shining Armor was gone. "Shiny?" She suddenly felt very embarrassed. "That stallion could double as a ninja."


	4. Chapter 4

Shining Armor walked in to the ballroom, looking left and right. Didn't seem like Cadance was anywhere around, he smiled and walked over to a couple of the guards. "Good morning, privates. How is the situation?"

"Ballroom is secure, sir. But I still don't understand, we've already checked all the buildings before."

"We must be ever diligent, evil never takes a vacation."

"Sir, permission to speak freely?"

"Granted."

"Sir, we've heard some rumors about you and Princess Cadance."

"Uh Oh." Shining Armor grimaced. "I knew it was only a matter of time. What's the word?"

"She wants to hook up with you and you hate her for it."

"Hate?" Shining Armor repeated. "Hate is kind of a strong word don't you think?!"

"Well it's true isn't it?" asked the second guard.

"I don't hate anypony! Our positions in society just conflict that's all."

The two guards shared a glace, not believing their superior officer for a moment.

"I don't hate her!" he reiterated. "Princess Cadance is a lovely pony. She's kind, generous, so sweet she'll give you a cavity, caring to a fault, smart, she always tell you the truth but only in the most gentle way possible, funny..."

Shining Armor seemed to drift out of thought and gave a content sigh.

"Uh, sir?"

He snapped back to reality. "Oh! Sorry about that! Where was I?"

One of the guards smiled. "I believe you listing to us all the many traits you 'didn't hate' about Princess Cadance."

"Right! Princess Cadance is a lovely pony, and any stallion would thank all the stars in the night sky above if she was interested in him but..."

Both of the guards stood shocked, staring behind Shining Armor with their jaws dropped.

"She's standing right behind me isn't she?"

"Not quite, sir."

Shining Armor turned around and saw not the alicorn which had been chasing him, but Princess Celestia herself.

"Princess Celestia! Ma'am!" Shining Armor instantly stood at attention saluting the figure head while the two guards mimicked him. Princess Celestia giggled "At ease soldiers. Shining Armor, I was wondering if perhaps I could speak to you alone?"

"Of course, ma'am." Shining Armor nodded before following Celestia out the door.

''I understand that you and my niece..."

"I swear I never lead her on!"

Shining Armor instantly regretted his outburst. Not only did he cut her off, but he jumped to a conclusion on her. He could easily get fired for such actions, just by being rude to the head Princess.

To his surprise she laughed at his actions.

"I see she's starting to get to you." she chuckled.

Shining Armor could only blush in response. _'Why me? What did I do to deserve all this blushing?'_

"But I'm not here to talk to you about her advances towards you."

Shining Armor let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding.

"However, it does involve her. With the Grand Galloping Gala drawing ever nearer Princess Cadance is going to need a new dress, which is why I would like you to be her escort in to town."

Princess Celestia waited patiently as she let the new information process in to his brain.

"Yes, your majesty!" he saluted. "I will gather up some of the guards and..."

"Oh no, I don't believe that will be necessary. You should be all she needs."

Shining Armor blushed again and saluted. "Ma'am! With all due respect...NO!"

Celestia laughed once again. "My niece is right. You are cute when you're flustered." his blushed deepened. "However, all you are doing is helping her shop for a dress, you shouldn't be gone from your troops for too long I should think."

"But..."

"Shining Armor!" Celestia snapped. He stood at attention again. "As your commanding officer I hereby order you to take my niece dress shopping!"

Shining Armor hung his head in defeat. "Yes, your highness."

* * *

Up in her room, Cadance was going over her strategy to get Shining Armor to admit his feeling for her. At first she started out with charts and graphs but now she had a little model of Canterlot complete with little Shining Armor and Cadance figurines.

She took a moment to admire her work and grinned. "Twilight would be proud!"

She knelt down to finalize her strategy. "Okay the dress shop is the ultimate goal, but I have to warm up first with these shops first, if I'm lucky the words will slip out before the dress shop. But should the dress shop fail, I always Emergency Plan B."

Cadance picked up the figurines of her and Shining Armor. "And then Shining Armor would be all like 'I love you, Cadance!'" she made the Shining Armor figurine move as she talked. "And then I will be all like 'I knew it all along! Now we can live happily ever after in the Crystal Palace.'" she did the same for her own figurine. "And then he'll say 'Again with this Crystal Palace thing, what's up with that' and then I'll say 'I don't know! I just honestly feel that one day we'll end up in a Crystal Palace someda...'"

The sound of her bedroom door opening cut off her little 'play'. Poking her head in, it took all Princess Celestia had to keep from laughing at the site of her niece playing with little figurines of herself and the stallion she was chasing. She was currently sitting on the floor with her model in front of her, holding each figurine in one of her hooves.

"You're a little old to be playing with dolls aren't you Cadance?" chuckled Celestia.

"Auuuuuntie!" Cadance whined. "I'm not playing, I'm strategizing!"

Celestia brought her hoof to her lips to keep her from laughing. "Well whenever you're done, I thought you should know that Shining Armor is here waiting for you."

Cadance hoofed pumped. "Yes!"

* * *

Shining Armor bitterly waited downstairs, what was it about mares that always left stallions waiting for them?! He took a breath of a sigh to calm himself down. The truth was he wasn't mad at her or even mares in general, he was mad at the situation. His fellow guards were snickering behind his back and he knew it too! Not that he could blame them, the situation was just downright embarrassing! It was as if he was ordered to take Cadance on a date.

"I'm ready!" a voice called down.

Cadance appeared at the top of the stairs with a purse on her good wing. "Notice anything different about me?"

Shining Armor squinted his eyes at her. "Are you...wearing different mascara?"

Cadance let out a high pitched squee of glee. "I knew you'd notice!"

_'This is going to be a long day.'_ Shining Armor thought to himself.

* * *

As he and Cadance walked down the street he couldn't but notice there was a spring in her step, which didn't spell anything good for him.

"Cadance..." he started.

She started to walk normally again. "You're calling me by my first name again. I take it you want to talk about something serious."

Shining Armor felt stunned, she was right, he hadn't been calling her by her royal title lately. A familiarity with her he wasn't even aware he had. He quickly shook himself out of his stupor, he needed to focus on what was important here.

"Cadance, I hope you still don't think that kiss from yesterday is telling you that you're going to win our little wager."

"Oh it didn't tell me that." He sighed in relief. "It told me something else entirely."

"What?!"

"It told me that you want this relationship to happen every bit as much as I do!"

"I do not!"

"Your actions spoke louder than your words, Shining Armor."

"Now you hold on a second! I..."

"We're here!" Cadance cheerfully announced.

Shining Armor sighed in defeat. Maybe it was just better to get the whole thing over with. He walked with Cadance inside the building only to find a fast food restaurant waiting for him inside.

"What the...? Hey, this isn't a dress shop!"

"Oh didn't I tell you? I thought we could stop for lunch first, I kind of missed breakfast."

**CADANCE'S AMAZING PLAN part 1**

_'Part 1: Soften him up in a public place to show him fun loving side, that way he can find a way to relate to me. This way he can see me more as a mare than a princess.'_

"Cadance, we're supposed to be shopping for a dress!"

"Oh lighten up, Shiny. It's just a fast food place."

He sighed in defeat and followed her in. Somehow they had lucked out and there wasn't any lines for them.

"Where is everypony?"

"Oh we caught them in their slow period. Looks like it's just going to be the two of us."

Shining Armor swallowed a lump in his throat as Cadance walked up to the counter.

"Two hay burgers, two small fries, and two medium sized drinks please."

"That's a lot of food." noted Shining Armor.

"Well it's for you too, silly."

"Me?!"

"Yes." she smiled. "You." she gently pressed her hoof against his nose. "Beeeeeep."

He blushed. He wasn't sure why, but something about her action just seemed to make him blush.

"Order up!" the cashier announced.

Cadance picked up the tray. "Send the bill to the royal palace. Follow me, Button Nose."

Shining Armor blushed again but followed Cadance anyways.

She sat down at a table with only two chairs and started to eat her hay burger.

Shining Armor sat down adjacent to her but she noticed he wasn't eating.

"Well? Don't be shy, I bought them for you too."

"But I'm not hungry. I ate before we left."

Cadance swallowed her mouthful and let out a heartbroken "What?"

"I never go on duty with an empty stomach and unlike some other guards I actually enjoy my rations."

_'Oh no! What am I gonna do now? My amazing plan hadn't taken this in to account. Think Cadance, think!'_

She quickly pushed his burger closer to him. "Oh but I couldn't possibly eat both of these all by myself."

He pushed it away. "Honestly, I'm so full I couldn't possibly eat a single bite."

Cadance and Shining Armor soon got in to a kind of reverse tug of war with the burger. However, Cadance pushed too hard and the burger went flying in to Shining Armor's face. The hay burger must have had extra sauce in it because his face was covered with it's condiments.

Cadance brought her hooves over her mouth. "Oh my goodness. I am so sor..." His laughter cut her off. After staring at him for a moment she found herself laughing with him, although she wasn't entirely sure what they were laughing about.

"I still don't want anything to eat, but I'll take some of those napkins you have there."

* * *

Cadance and Shining Armor were now out in the streets again, they had a good laugh back at the restaurant but Shining Armor insisted they get going. He had troops to command after all.

_'Okay, part 1 was a mix blend. It didn't technically work but Shining Armor and I still had fun. However, part 2 is sure fire hit, there is no way it can fail!'_

"Okay Shiny. We're here."

"What the...? Cadance this is a movie theatre!"

"I know, but there's this movie that gives out a special coupon for gala dresses at the end if you watch it with a date."

He blew some hair out of his face. "Let me guess, it's a romantic comedy?"

"Nope. Horror." she answered honestly.

Shining Armor couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her. _'What's her plan this time?'_

**CADANCE'S AMAZING PLAN part 2**

_'Part 2: Use the scary movie to get cling to him during the scary parts. This way he will feel how natural it is for us to be together, then he'll start to realize we're meant to be together. Heh, I bet hel'll blush so much he'll light up the whole theatre.'_

As Cadanced started to giggle to herself Shining Armor took a step back.

_'And now I'm starting to get concerned.'_

* * *

Cadance and Shining Armor sat next to each other in the theater. Shining Armor was basically grumbling to himself while Cadance mentally prepped herself.

_'Okay Cadance, you have nothing to be nervous about. You've studied this movie scene by scene, you know all the scary parts to make your move.'_

The title screen of *VAMPONY vs ZOMPONY* appeared on the screen followed by a vampony suddenly appearing on the screen. As the crowd screamed Cadance tried to throw her arms around his neck but Shining Armor did something Cadance honestly didn't plan for. He sneezed. When he lurched forward she completely missed him, grasping only at air.

She sat back in her seat with a disappointed frown. _'It's okay, Cadance. It was a little much to hope for it to happen on the very first try anyways. However, I'll get him next time around, I just know it!'_

Her wait for the next moment took exactly thirteen minutes, as everypony else screamed Cadance tried yet again to throw her arms around him. However, following the words of "Hey! A bit!" Shining Armor had bent down avoiding Cadance completely to get the small amount of money he had discovered.

_'How is that possible?'_ Cadance thought to herself as she returned to her seat. _'Don't get discouraged, Cadance. You have plenty of other chances.'_

However, fate seemed to be against her in this event. For on her next chance when she made a grab for him he had leaned back leaving Cadance with, once again, nothing to grab but air.

_'It's not over! Not yet!'_

Cadance made several other attempts to cling to him, yet all of them failed. Her frustration on the matter was starting to get to her.

_'Okay, I guess I'm just going to have to force the situation and hold his hoof!_

Cadance was about to make her move but Shining Armor, for whatever reason, was now bored with the movie and chose to rest his head in the exact hoof Cadance was going to make a grab for.

To add insult to injury the credits started to roll saying that the movie was now over. Shining Armor got up from his seat and Cadance buried her face in her hooves out of frustration and embarrassment.

_'This isn't fair!'_

* * *

As Shining Armor and Cadance walked down the street their moods seem to be in exact opposite moods of one another. Cadance's was of depression since her movie scheme didn't work, while Shining Armor's was...

"I can't believe the coupon thing was actually real!" he beamed. "I mean I thought that was just another set up from you, but who would've thought a movie production company would actually try to bribe an audience with a coupon just to watch their horrible movie."

Shining Armor didn't like the movie, some ponies were scared by it but he trained to deal with far far worse. However, he couldn't help but feel a little happy since Cadance had actually been honest with him for a change, instead of just twisting the truth to try something with him.

"Yes well...that's cinema for you." she sighed heavily. The best lies always had a ring of truth to them. _'How could that have gone so wrong? You'd think I would have been able to cling to him just once. However, I am from done! It's time for Part 3!'_

"We're here!" Cadance announced pointing at the dress shop.

**CADANCE'S AMAZING PLAN part 3**

_'Part 3 is simple enough. Find the perfect dress to turn his head, one which matches me perfectly, which compliments my beauty, but most importantly makes Shining Armor blush like a tomato! After he becomes captivated by my beauty I need to capitalize on it as much as I can!'_

As they walked in Cadance handed the coupon to the cashier clerk. She accepted it with a grin "Oh I see you tried our special promotion! Feel free to try on any dress in the shop."

"Thank you very much! Come on, Shining Armor."

"Excuse me?"

"Well I'm still going to need a stallion's opinion on how I actually look in the dress."

As he walked past the cashier he heard her whisper to him "Your marefriend is very lucky."

"She's not my...oh forget it!"

As he joined Cadance he found her looking over a green and sky blue dress. "This one looks like it might have potential."

She took it to the changing room which was basically a sheet covering the corner of the walls. "I'm going to change now so don't peek."

"Sure."

Cadance was surprised by his honesty in the situation...surprised and just a little bit disappointed. _'Don't you even want to peek a little bit?'_

"I'm going to busy changing so I wouldn't notice you if you poked your head in, so don't peek."

"Fine."

"I have a habit of giving my full attention to the details of the dress, so don't peek."

"Fine."

"In fact I would say that..."

"CADANCE!" Shining Armor snapped. "I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but we don't normally wear clothes! Exactly WHAT do you think you'd be hiding from me?!"

"Well that's obvious, if you peeked you would see my...huh. I guess you got a point Shiny."

She closed the sheet and changed in to the dress. When she stepped out she was disappointed to see Shining Armor's face didn't blush, he didn't even flinch.

_'Maybe he's keeping it all bottled in somehow? I know! He'll probably stutter instead.'_ "Well Shiny? What do you think?"

"Looks good to me. Shall we go?"

She glared at him making him shrink a little. "I'd like to try some other ones on too, okay?!"

She tried on several other dresses but Shining Armor remained as unchanged as a sphinx.

_'How is he doing this?! Do the royal guards get special training on ignoring a mare in a dress?!_ she stopped her mental rant for a moment to consider the thought. _'That might actually make sense. Can't have the troops distracted after all.'_

"Princess Cadance," Shining Armor's voice snapped her back to reality. "I'm afraid I don't know too much about dresses, for me it was always the mare in the dress I cared about, but like I said I think I'm a poor judge in fancy dresses."

Cadance rolled her eyes, he was making this more difficult than it had to be. "Well look at it this way, you own a tuxedo right?"

"A tux? Oh I don't have one."

Cadance looked at him as if he just revealed some kind of horrible secret to her. "What? How could YOU not have a tuxedo?"

"Well the answer is actually very simple. I don't have have a tux because I'm not going to the Gala."

"WHAT?!"

"I'm on duty that night."

"NO YOU'RE NOT!"

"Cadance, please! Ponies are staring!"

She started to drag him off towards the stallion section of the store. "We are getting you a tux whether you like it or not!"

Shining Armor would have objected but it was clear that she had made up her mind.

She had picked out a dark green tuxedo and handed it to him. "Here, try this one on." her voice had gone back to normal much to Shining Armor's pleasure. He would have said 'no' but this was obviously something that was important to her so how could he refuse?

As he disappeared behind the curtain for stallions Cadance let out a breath of relief. _'Okay, maybe I overreacted back there but Shining Armor needs to have a tuxedo! Especially if I want to have the Best Night Ever at the Gala, I'll talk to Auntie Celestia about getting him the night off.'_

She blushed as she heard Shining Armor grunt and strain to get the tuxedo on. _'Okay, so maybe I picked a suit which was a few sizes too small to focus on his new build. So what? I'm only a pony! Being an alicorn doesn't make you perfect ya know?'_

The curtain opened and Shining Armor stood in his tuxedo worth all his splendor. It hugged his body as much as Cadance thought it would.

_'Worth it!'_

"I think it looks wonderful on you. What do you think?"

Shining Armor said nothing, standing as still as a statue.

"Shiny? What do you think of the tux?"

He opened his mouth but no noise came out.

"Is something wrong?"

Shining Armor fell to the ground, his face starting to turn blue.

"Oh my goodness, SHINING ARMOR! SOMEPONY HELP!"

The cashier from earlier came running over "What happened?!"

"I don't know!" Cadance panicked. "He just stopped breathing!"

It was then that Cadance noticed that Shining Armor was pawing at his tux collar. _'The suite is too small! It's choking him!'_

"He needs mouth to mouth." the cashier deduced. As she leaned in to begin the procedure Cadance suddenly pushed her out of the way with a shout of "NO HE DOESN'T!"

Cadance quickly ripped his collar with horn opening his air flow back to normal. Shining Armor inhaled sharply as color quickly returned to his face.

"Cadance," he offered her a forgiving smile. "Next time, get my measurements right."

She smiled sadly down at him as her eyes watered up to the point of breaking, then without warning she threw herself on top of him, crying in to his shoulder.

Normally Shining Armor would have objected to such affection but by the looks of it she needed even more comfort and care then he did right now. He held her as she continued to cry, it lasted for maybe a moment or two but when she was finished a clearing of the throat brought their attention over to the cashier.

"This is touching and everything but I'm still going to need you to pay for that tuxedo you broke."

* * *

Cadance had felt quite embarrassed about their little skirmish in the dress shop. She was even having trouble looking the object of her affection in the eye. There was yet another awkward silence between the two as they walked down the street, and just like last time Shining Armor decided to break it.

"So..."

Unlike last time, however, he didn't have anything to go on.

"So..." she echoed. "I'm really sorry I almost killed you with a tuxedo."

Shining Armor chortled. "Don't worry about it. This is something we'll probably look back on one day and laugh."

Cadance let out a small laugh. "You must have known it was too small for you, why did you try to put it on anyways?"

"I was afraid you were going to freak out again if I didn't! Don't need anymore rumors going around about us!"

They shared a laugh dissolving whatever tension there was between them.

_'Okay, we're both in a good mood now. It is the perfect time to put in to action Emergency Plan B!_

**CADANCE'S AMAZING PLAN part 4...AKA Emergency Plan B**

"Shining Armor, it is starting to get late..."

He looked at the horizon and frowned at how the sun was setting. "You're right, I've been away from my troops for too long."

"Well I happen to know of a short cut. It should at least shave an hour off of our return trip."

"That would be a big help." He grinned.

"Terrific! Just follow me!"

_'Emergency Plan B, I was hoping it wouldn't come to this because it seems kind of drastic._ Cadance lead Shining Armor to a street which was littered with couples. _'This street is famous for mares and stallions getting together. It also has a reputation for being overly crowded meaning Shining Armor and I will get in to a lot of tight spaces. He'll see how natural it is for us to be together and then I'll hear those three magic words before you can say Crystal Palace.'_

As they walked down the street her plan already started to take effect. Shining Armor couldn't help but notice that the majority of ponies on this street were couples. He suddenly felt very self conscious about being alone with Cadance.

The crowd got thicker and Cadance was practically leaning up against him. "Cadance, do you think you could..."

"I'm sorry Shining Armor, but in this crowd I have to stay close to you so we don't get separated."

Shining Armor's blush had reached a whole new level of red and Cadance was loving every minute of it.

"Isn't this nice, Shiny? Just the two of us..."

"Cadance...we've been over this..."

"But look Shiny, nopony is bothering us or spreading rumors. To them we're just another couple in the crowd, there is nothing wrong with what we have. It's only natural for there to be an attraction between us. Don't you think you could give 'us' a try?"

"Sure thing hot stuff!"

Cadance felt overjoyed, not only had her stallion finally said yes but he called her 'hot' to boot.

"Oh Shining Armor, I'm so happy I..."

"I didn't say that." he cut her off.

"Huh?"

Shining Armor pointed past her shoulder. "It was that guy!"

There stood a blue pegasus with blue hair wearing a Wonderbolt, his name was Soarin.

"Never thought I could get with a princess of all things, but if that's what you want Babe then you certainly won't hear me complain."

He gave her a wink which only made her skin crawl.

"I wasn't talking to you!" Cadance cried.

"That doesn't matter, what does matter is that I'm here, you're here, so what's the problem?"

Shining Armor was suddenly in the space between the two winged ponies. Standing in front of Cadance to keep Soarin at bay, the look he gave him was like that a knight would give an enemy he had to kill.

"The 'problem' is that she's a princess!"

Soarin just seemed to laugh off Shining Armor's serious glare. "Oh I don't mind that at all."

"I mind!" Shining Armor snapped. "I would expect a member of the Wonderbolts to have better behavior towards a princess."

"Wait a second...you're Shining Armor! Can't believe I didn't recognize you, dude, are you on a date with her?"

"Yes, I mean No! I mean...Grr...That's not the point! The point is, leave her alone or you'll have me to answer to!"

Cadance felt her heart skip a beat, Shining Armor was defending her honor like something out of an old story book.

"Oh yeah, and what're you going to about it huh? In case you haven't noticed, I'm not one of your little guard ponies! You can't punish me because you aren't MY commanding officer. You have no authority over me!"

Cadance gasped. As much as she hated to admit it, Soarin had a point. He couldn't just order Soarin to go away like he would with a guard pony, this might actually lead to some kind of street fight.

"You're right, Soarin." Shining Armor grinned. "I'm not your commanding officer, so I can't punish you. However, I don't have to..."

"Come again?" Soarin really didn't like how the unicorn had phrased that. He was starting to get nervous.

"Because YOUR commanding officer is right behind you!"

"WHAT?!"

He turned around to be greeted with the sight of Spitfire looking absolutely furious at him. "Spitfire! Hi. How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to know you've been shirking off your training responsibilities TO FLIRT WITH MARES!"

The force of Spitfire's shouting was actually so strong it blew back Soarin's hair. He was really sweating now.

"When we get back, you're going to be doing so many laps YOUR WINGS WILL FALL OFF!" Soarin seemed completely pale, but Spitfire flew past him all the same and gave a salute to Shining Armor.

"Captain, I'm sorry if my wing pony gave you or your date any trouble. I thank you for keeping him in one place long enough for me to find him. I promise to keep him on a shorter leash from now on."

Shining Armor returned the salute. "Not at all. And just to be clear, myself and the princess are not on a date."

Spitfire smirked. "Kind of looks like a date from where I'm flying. But whatever, let me call you a chariot to get you back to the castle."

"That would be greatly appreciated."

* * *

**CADANCE'S AMAZING PLAN part5...actually, the Amazing Cadance hasn't thought this far ahead yet.**

_'Stupid Soarin! I almost had him!'_

Cadance paced back and forth in her room. This was starting to prove harder than she initially thought, she went over to her desk and looked at a photograph she had framed.

It was of her, filly Twilight, and a much skinnier Shining Armor. She knew what she had to do, she brought out a piece of paper, an inkwell, and a quill.

"I'm sorry Shining Armor. I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to this, but you've left me no choice."

Cadance sighed and started to write a letter. "I'm going to need..." a giant grin grew on her face. "Backup! Dear Twilight Sparkle..."


	5. Chapter 5

Cadance waited at the Canterlot train station impatiently. Twilight had wrote back to her saying that whatever it was that Cadance wanted to talk about was going to have to wait a while. Cadance had lost more days than she would care to admit waiting for Twilight to get some free time, from the sounds of it she and her friends were having a lot of adventures in Ponyville.

When the train pulled up to a complete stop, Cadance let out a breath of relief. When Twilight exited the train, they spotted each other immediately and ran towards themselves to do their favorite nursery rhyme ritual from their younger days.

**"Sunshine, Sunshine, Ladies Bug Awake. Clap Your Hooves And Do A Little Shake!"**

They shared a laugh once they finished their funny dance. "I'm really glad you're here Twilight, I could really use your help. I know you said you were busy with your new friends..."

"Boy, I'll say, so much has happened I don't know where to begin!"

"Well I..."

"Let's see, Rainbow Dash won the best flyer competition in Cloudsdale..."

"Oh good for her. Now I asked you to co..."

"I just got a new pet, an owl." Twilight beamed.

"Yes Twilight, that's very nice but..."

"The funny thing is Spike was actually jealous. Can you believe that?" Twilight giggled.

"Really? Poor sensitive little thing. But Anyways I..."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I've been cutting you off haven't I?" Cadance rolled her eyes at the irony. "What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"I'm in love with your brother!" blurted Cadance.

Cadance immediately regretted her decision. Her intent was to gradually bring it up in conversation and ease Twilight in to the situation, not to blurt it out like she just did. Heaven knows she thought the world of her brother, in her eyes nopony might be good enough him.

Twilight stood in stunned silence, letting the new information process. After a moment, Cadance started to get worried. "Twily? Are you okay?"

"Oh..." she managed to squeak out.

"Uh-oh. Twilight, I didn't upset you did I?" Cadance frowned.

"My..."

"Twily, it's okay. Your brother hasn't even..."

"SWEET CELESTIA! THIS IS AMAZING!" Cadance's hair was flown back by the sheer volume Twilight was cheering at. "Eeeheeheehee!" Twilight giggled as she pranced in place.

Cadance smiled and wiped some sweat from her brow. It was both a relief and a joy to see her so happy with Cadance's feelings for her brother.

"You two make the perfect couple! He's the most amazing big brother in the world and you're the most amazing foal sitter in the world, it's a match made in heaven! When did he ask you out? No! Wait! How did he ask you out? Was it romantic?"

"Twilight listen, I know I love him but he refuses to acknowledge that he loves me back."

"What? I don't understand. How could he refuse to acknowledge his feelings? I mean, you're sure he loves you back, right?"

"Oh I'm positive about that, but that's what makes it all the more frustrating. He's being real stubborn about it!"

"Huh?"

"He thinks that because of his job, a relationship between the two of us would be 'inappropriate'. Because I'm a princess and he's just the Captain of the Royal Guard. It's like he thinks he'd be committing some kind of treason if he were to even try to love me back."

"What? But why...oh my sweet Celestia! It's a forbidden romance!"

"Huh?"

"A forbidden romance! I've read romance novels all about them, oh Cadance you are so lucky!" Twilight gushed.

"I haven't been feeling very lucky lately. You see, Shining Armor and I have made a bet. I have until the day of the Grand Galloping Gala to get him to admit that he loves me back."

"What happens if you win?"

"He will become my very special somepony and we'll get to live happily ever after and one day live in a crystal palace. But if I lose I have to let him go and accept the fact that we can't be together because I'm a Princess."

"Crystal palace? What?"

"Don't ask. Anyways, I've tried everything I can think of but your brother is as sharp as a tact. He sees every attempt I try coming!"

"Well we can't have that! Don't worry Cadance, he won't be able to stop our combined might!"

* * *

Shining Armor was busy going over some paper work when suddenly a cold chill went down his spine. "What was that?" he shuttered.

Deciding that the best way to put it out of his mind would be to go on patrol.

* * *

Twilight and Cadance were up in her room where Twilight had found Cadance's Amazing Plan.

"This thing was really formulated, I'm impressed...but I do have some notes."

"'Notes?'"

"Don't get me wrong, Cadance. This was brilliantly thought out..."

Cadance puffed out her chest a little bit in pride.

"But it is way too cliche to work on my brother."

Cadance deflated a little bit. "What?"

"This is my brother we're talking about! If you want to get him to admit his feelings to you and himself then you have to get past his defenses. You have to be original, creative! And I know exactly what we're going to start with!"

* * *

Shining Armor's patrol had actually been pretty boring so far, maybe some of his troops were right when they gossiped about him being paranoid.

He was about to consider taking a break when one of the council ponies passed by him. "Sir!" Shining Armor saluted.

The council pony nodded his head to the captain. "At ease. Captain Shining Armor, I just finished collecting a survey from the troops on you. They say you might be a little uptight but that's to be expected from a stallion in the military, outside of that the one complaint they had is that they wish you could do more. Mighty fine job you're doing, keep up good work!"

Shining Armor smiled as he watched the council pony walk away. The council attended to matters in Celestia's place whenever she was too busy with other affairs, so technically speaking they were his bosses. To get praise from one of them was a big compliment to his performance with his duties.

* * *

"Okay, after reviewing your past attempts I think I'm starting to see the problem."

Cadance sat on the floor, listening to Twilight as if she were a teacher giving a very important lesson.

"What is it?"

"You're coming on too strong." she said bluntly.

"Excuse me?" Cadance couldn't help but feel a little bit insulted with Twilight's insensitive explanation. "I'm just trying to show him what's in my heart, how serious I am about this relationship!"

"However, that seems to be the problem. You're coming at him with all your feeling all at once and he feels like he has to dodge just to survive. No, what you need is a more subtle approach."

Cadance rubbed her chin in thought. "Subtle, you say; exactly what did you have in mind Twilight?"

"Dinner!" she retorted.

Cadance's face lit up. "You mean like a romantic picnic? Oh that would be wonderful and..."

"Whoa! Dial it back there, I just meant a dinner. Nothing fancy. He's told me he likes to eat in the mess hall alone, so we can probably take advantage of that."

"Dinner for two?"

"Yes."

"Oh! Maybe we could pay Octavia to give us some ambiance and..."

"Nothing fancy!" Twilight repeated.

Cadance frowned. "Then I don't understand. If there is going to be nothing fancy then how is it going to help me get him to admit his feelings."

"What we do is start off with simple conversation, nothing to do with love or the bet. He enjoys talking to you, I've seen it in him since I was a filly. However, this all only to play off our trump card."

"Trump card? What's our trump card?" honestly, with Twilight it could be any number of things.

"You are going to make the dinner! The quickest way to a stallion's heart is through his stomach after all."

"That...is brilliant! Why didn't I think of that?! Twilight, you're a genius!"

"Yes. Yes I am." Twilight beamed. "We can probably get everything ready before Shiny gets down to the mess hall if we hurry."

"It's time to dress for battle then!"

Twilight rolled her eyes as her former foalsitter applied her make up.

"Cadance, you're acting like putting on lipstick is the same as applying battle make up. We're trying to get him to admit he loves you, we're not going to war ya know?"

"War?" Cadance squinted her eyes. "Love is war!"

Twilight giggled. "That sounds like something Pinkie Pie would say."

* * *

The growling in his stomach told Shining Armor that it was finally time for lunch so he started to head to the mess hall. They always had the best ration bars in his opinion, always gave a guard exactly what he needed to carry on for the rest of the day.

As he started to draw closer he saw none other than his own beloved little sister waving at him from outside the mess hall.

"Twily," he beamed. "What're you doing here, kid?" He trotted over to her, smiling bigger than he had all week.

"I came to visit, but just for the day. I heard you've been having some lady problems lately."

His grin faded away. "Oh great, word is starting to spread. That's just what I need. For whatever reason, Cadance has decided that we are in love."

"And are you saying that you're not?"

Shining Armor failed to fight back a blush. "O-Of course not! Especially when she just brings out of left field like that!"

Twilight smirked. _'He so totally loves her.'_ "Were you about to have lunch?"

"Actually yes. Care to join me? I always wondered what a non-military pony would think of our ration bars."

"Sure, but let me ask you something. If Cadance isn't your type, then what is?"

Shining Armor opened the door for his sister as they went in. "It's not that she isn't my type, we just have different political positions."

"Okay but just for argument's sake..."

Shining Armor looked around the mess hall, they were the only ones there. _'That's odd, there should be at least a couple of other guards here.' The meals here are free for them after all._

"Shiny?" Twilight waved her hoof in front of his face to snap him back to reality.

"Oh! Sorry, Twily. I guess my ideal girl would be...well for starters I'd like her to have multi-colored hair. The more the better. Especially if it is just free flowing, natural, not done up in any of those fancy hair styles. Secondly, she would have to be kind and caring, sympathetic to others in need. And not fat!"

"What?"

"Well I also want a mare who can take care of herself."

"Oh."

"Being smart would be a plus, I don't want some bimbo. I'd like her to be fun too, in my line of work I could use a mare who knows how to have fun. However, I think most of all I would like her to have is hope."

"Hope?"

"This world we live in can get pretty harsh, to have a mare who looks on the brighter side of things...well, that would be exactly the kind of mare I could fall for."

Twilight took a moment to process this information. When she was done she gave a dubious look.

"You just described Cadance." she accused.

"No I didn't."

"Yes! Yes you did!"

"No I most certainly did not."

"You described her to a t!"

"Twiley I don't know what you're talking about. Let's just grab some grub, okay?"

"Fine." Twilight followed him to the counter, her knowing smirk completely missing his gaze. "Whatever you say."

Shining Armor grabbed a tray for both him and his little sister, but the food wasn't pre-made and waiting like it normally was. Shining Armor walked down to kitchen counter to ask the chef what was going on, who he found was not the chef. Who he found was Cadance wearing a chef's hat.

"Cadance?! Where's Chef Iron Spoon?!"

"We gave him the night off." Cadance explained with a smile.

"You can't just...wait...who is 'we'?" he asked before turning his entire attention to his little sister with the sheepish grin. "Twiley...what's going on here?!"

"Oh nothing BBBFF, I just thought it would be nice for you and Cadance to have lunch together..."

"Twiley..."

"And having her be the one to cook the actual meal, can't really hurt can it?"

Shining Armor blew some hair out of his face and rolled his eyes. "Twilight, I have enough problems with this bet without you getting roped in to them. And you..." He pointed his hoof over at Cadance. "You're a cheater! Teaming up with Twilight on me, she's my little sister for crying out loud!"

"You never said I couldn't use to Twilight to help me!" Cadance folded her arms across her chest.

"That's because I didn't think you would actually resort to it! This was just supposed to be between you and me!"

"But I heard several other ponies got dragged in to helping both sides and..."

"Stay out this, Twilight!" Shining Armor snapped.

"Okay then," Twilight smiled. "I'll just leave you alone to talk to Cadance all by yourself."

"Right...wait! What?! No, TWILEY!"

However, it was too late; Twilight had made a beeline for the door which she promptly closed behind her. Shining Armor felt himself sweat as he heard the doors lock, and lucky him, he had no idea where the key was.

From the kitchen window Cadance spotted Twilight looking in. A devious smile formed on her face as her horn lit up; surrounded by Twilight's magic Cadance felt her hair become undone. Without it being done up in a ponytail or some other fancy doo Cadance found it was almost long enough to reach the floor. She gave Twilight a quizzical look who mouthed back to her the words 'Just trust me on this!'

Grinning she turned her attention back to the stallion who had earned her affection. He seemed to be on the brink of having some kind of panic attack. She cleared her throat, snapping him back to reality and herself.

"So..." Cadance flipped her hair. "Come here often?"

On this day, Shining Armor had blushed harder than he ever had in his life.


	6. Chapter 6

_'Stop staring at her hair! Stop staring at her hair! Stop staring at her hair!'_ This was the mantra Shining Armor chanted to himself.

"Shining Armor?" her voice cut through his train of thought like a knife.

He shook his head bringing himself back to reality.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I asked if you were hungry. I prepared all your favorite dishes."

"Well I...wait. How do you know my favorite dishes?"

"Shiny, I think we know each other a little bit better than you might be willing to admit." she smirked.

Shining Armor leaned on the counter and gave her a smirk of her own.

"Oh yeah? Prove it!"

"Ask me anything."

_'This is perfect! Mom always used to say that a good way to tell if you were in love was if you knew the pony inside and out! Once Cadance sees she doesn't know as much about me as she thought I'll be in the clear!_

"Okay," his smirk was still going on strong. "Favorite color?"

"Purple. Same shade as Twiley."

"Lucky guess." His smirk weakened a little bit. "My goal in life?"

"You're living it."

His smirk was shrunk quite a bit.

"Favorite childhood hero?"

"I'm going to say that uncle of yours in the fancy uniform."

The smirk was gone now, all that remained was a straight face.

"Favorite animal?"

"Me. No that was just a joke. The real answer is dogs, because they're so loyal."

"Favorite food?" he was frowning in fear now.

She placed a full bowl on the counter "This tomato soup right here."

_'I'm in trouble.'_ Shining Armor thought while swallowing a lump in his throat.

"Wait...the real answer is my MOM'S tomato soup. Nopony makes it like she does."

"Twiley gave me the recipe," Shining Armor took a spoon and decided to take a little taste. "I couldn't stop myself from adding a personal touch to it though so it may taste a little..."

"Better."

"What?"

Putting the spoon back he hung his head in defeat. "It's better than the soup my mom makes. I don't know what you did, but you've improved the flavor."

Cadance felt her heart soar as she failed to suppress her smile._'He likes my cooking!'_

"Ya know Shining Armor, I'd be willing to bet that you'd know the answers to all those questions if they were directed at me."

Shining Armor thought for a moment and then stomped his hoof on the ground. _'Darn it, she's right!'_

"Well then..." she flipped her free flowing hair and accidentally hit him in the face. "Let's find a table then, shall we?"

Shining Armor stood silently with his eyelids lowered until Cadance was leaving the kitchen. Then he spent the next two minutes spitting out stray strands of Cadance's hair which got stuck in his mouth.

Deciding it was all out now, he turned around to see Cadance carrying the food on a tray with her magic. Reluctantly he found himself staring at her hair again as she walked past him.

_'Wow. Has Cadance always been this beautiful? No! Bad Shining Armor! Don't go thinking those thoughts!'_

Cadance sat down on the nearest table available and flipped her hair behind herself.

_'Still, kind of hard to believe I never noticed her like this before. Maybe it was because I knew her so well it was hard for me to imagine her in this kind of light.'_

"Care to join me, Shining Armor?"

The growling in his stomach answered her question for him. "Okay, but don't go thinking this means anything."

"Oh no! No! That's not the point of all this!" she stressed. "This is just supposed to be a nice meal for two. No worrying about the bet or love or any of that stuff. Just two friends having lunch together, does that sound okay to you?"

He sat across from her, giving her a suspicious look. "I suppose."

He patiently waited but nothing happened, he couldn't wait any longer. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to pull something? Some kind of trap or flirt or something that will put me in an awkward position?"

Cadance placed her hooves on her lap and gave Shining Armor a very serious look. "What did I just say? But, to be fair I suppose I deserve that. With all of my advances towards you, you probably think I'm some crazy stalker who only wants one thing."

"Well 'stalker' is a little bit of an exaggeration I should think."

"What I'm trying to say here is 'I'm sorry'. Sorry for acting all crazy with you, the only thing it's done is cripple my own cause. I mean honestly, what part of my plans was supposed to get you to say that you love me?"

Shining Armor gave a cautious smile. "Okay Cadance, against my better judgement I'm going to trust you. Either way this turns out, I still want us to be friends."

The dreaded f word, Cadance was going to have to tread lightly now just to avoid it.

Shining Armor was enjoying the daisy and oats sandwich that was made for him when he suddenly stopped. He pulled out of his mouth a long blonde string of hair.

"Cadance, I have two words for you. Hair. Net."

The only thing Cadance could do was blush sheepishly.

Outside of that though, the meal had gone every bit as swimmingly as Twilight had predicted. They talked about small things like the weather, recent books read and things like that. It was a genuine good time to be had by all.

Time passed and the food was eaten, Shining Armor couldn't remember a time he had a more delightful meal. He patted his belly fully satisfied while Cadance smiled contently.

_'I would be such a good wife!'_ she thought to herself.

"Well that was enjoyable but we still got a problem."

"Huh? OH! We're still locked in aren't we?"

"Yeah, but I've thought of a solution."

Cadance raised an eyebrow at him. "Really?"

"Eeyup. Just follow me to the door." As he got up he paused for a moment in thought. "Did I just sound a little southern there?"

"A little bit."

"Well I"m never going to do that again. Come on."

At the door Cadance tried the handle but it was still locked, she turned to the object of her affection. "Okay so what's your solution?"

He smirked. "Just hold on to me."

She didn't need to be told twice as she threw her arms around his neck. "I thought you said you weren't going to pull this kind of stuff?!"

"During the meal. But we're done eating aren't we?"

"Sigh! Fine! Get cozy! Won't take long anyways!"

His horn glowed bright with his magic and in a flash of light he and Cadance were teleported outside in front of the door.

"I didn't know you could teleport."

Shining Armor shrugged nonchalantly. "Turns out any unicorn can get it if they practice at it hard enough. Maybe there are some things you don't know about me after all."

Cadance returned the smirk he was wearing. "And I intend to find them all out."

"...You know you can let go now."

"Yeah. I know."

The stallion rolled his eyes as he politely took her arms off of him and started to walk back to the castle. "Thank you for the meal, Cadance. It was a very nice experience."

If Shining Armor had looked behind himself as he walked he would have seen his little sister showing up next to Cadance.

"You set up the mistletoe?" Cadance's eyes had never left Shining Armor's back.

"All over the castle. Time to go in for the kill. I gotta get back to my friends though."

"That's fine Twiley, you've already helped me so much today. Thanks to you, I know I'll get him!"


End file.
